#77. Beware of Uploadingit.com!
Dear readers, I feel obligated to rouse myself to warn you of a dangerous and deceptive Web service, Uploadingit.com. It provides massive cloud storage for your files (10 GB for a free account, and even more for competitively-priced paid accounts). It shows a reasonably friendly interface and offers a good range of services. There are many other Web services that are similar, and I suggest you try them first.
So what's the problem with Uploadingit? Just that it deletes all your files if you do not log in for 30 days. I learned about this policy the hard way, having lost several gigabytes of valuable files.
It is absurd to expect users to log in every 30 or fewer days, and even more absurd to think that users would expect such a restriction. This idiotic policy is not publicized on the Uploadingit Web site. It does not even appear in the Terms of Service, though it should be announced and emphasized instead. Such a policy is an invitation to a lawsuit.
Even worse, Uploadingit did not send me any email reminder to log in. With such a strict policy, I certainly would expect to receive reminders of impending deletion, to give me a chance to retain my files.
Customer support? What's that? My emails for technical support, after discovering my files were missing, were never answered.
I also was shocked at the arrogant, uncaring attitude evident in the administrator's reply on the Uploadingt forum to another user who lost files. The admin showed no understanding of how users might want to use the service, nor any concern for proper customer relations. He also demonstrated ignorance of how similar services work. For example, I just checked the terms at two similar services: ADrive says it does not expire nor delete any confirmed accounts or user files; Humyo only deletes files if there is no activity in 90 days and the user fails to respond to two reminder emails.
Shortly after I posted my complaint on the Uploadingit forum, the administrator replied quickly and thoroughly, to his credit, but defensively. He bravely attempted to justify the 30-day deletion policy with lame excuses. He also pointed out that it is explained in the site's FAQ and knowledge base; I had not seen it, but why is such a dangerous limitation buried there anyway? And he claimed to have sent me four warning emails, but I never received any.
Loyal readers, I apologize for writing a negative post about a bad service, in contrast to my usual upbeat posts in which I share my discoveries of great software and Web services. I hope I can return to you with more positive reviews and recommendations soon. Meanwhile, feel free to share your thoughts by clicking on “comments” below or writing to jonathanstoolbar@gmail.com.
So what's the problem with Uploadingit? Just that it deletes all your files if you do not log in for 30 days. I learned about this policy the hard way, having lost several gigabytes of valuable files.
It is absurd to expect users to log in every 30 or fewer days, and even more absurd to think that users would expect such a restriction. This idiotic policy is not publicized on the Uploadingit Web site. It does not even appear in the Terms of Service, though it should be announced and emphasized instead. Such a policy is an invitation to a lawsuit.
Even worse, Uploadingit did not send me any email reminder to log in. With such a strict policy, I certainly would expect to receive reminders of impending deletion, to give me a chance to retain my files.
Customer support? What's that? My emails for technical support, after discovering my files were missing, were never answered.
I also was shocked at the arrogant, uncaring attitude evident in the administrator's reply on the Uploadingt forum to another user who lost files. The admin showed no understanding of how users might want to use the service, nor any concern for proper customer relations. He also demonstrated ignorance of how similar services work. For example, I just checked the terms at two similar services: ADrive says it does not expire nor delete any confirmed accounts or user files; Humyo only deletes files if there is no activity in 90 days and the user fails to respond to two reminder emails.
Shortly after I posted my complaint on the Uploadingit forum, the administrator replied quickly and thoroughly, to his credit, but defensively. He bravely attempted to justify the 30-day deletion policy with lame excuses. He also pointed out that it is explained in the site's FAQ and knowledge base; I had not seen it, but why is such a dangerous limitation buried there anyway? And he claimed to have sent me four warning emails, but I never received any.
Loyal readers, I apologize for writing a negative post about a bad service, in contrast to my usual upbeat posts in which I share my discoveries of great software and Web services. I hope I can return to you with more positive reviews and recommendations soon. Meanwhile, feel free to share your thoughts by clicking on “comments” below or writing to jonathanstoolbar@gmail.com.
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